San Diego County Proposes $210M Mental Health Wellness Campus
San Diego County officials approved a plan today to seek $100 million in state funding to build a comprehensive behavioral health wellness campus aimed at expanding access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment.
The proposed campus, to be located on Rosecrans Street adjacent to the San Diego County Psychiatric Hospital, would consolidate a range of services currently scattered across the region. Plans include a crisis stabilization unit, mental health rehabilitation center, social rehabilitation facility, substance use disorder treatment facility, and an outpatient community mental health clinic. The total project budget is now estimated at $210 million, including the assessed value of the county-owned land. This initiative comes as San Diego County, like many communities nationwide, struggles with increasing demand for mental healthcare and limited capacity.
Experts emphasize the need for a continuum of care, moving beyond crisis intervention to provide ongoing support. “One of the biggest problems for people struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues is those transitions of care,” said Karen Larsen, executive director of the Steinberg Institute, a Sacramento-based nonprofit. “That’s less likely to happen if everything’s on the same campus.” The campus design aligns with the county’s “optimal care pathways” plan, prioritizing continuous connection to treatment, and is modeled after similar facilities in Riverside and Orange County. You can learn more about SAMHSA’s National Helpline for immediate support.
County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer highlighted the importance of integrating mental health and substance abuse treatment, stating, “The kind of framework where you get substance abuse treatment in one location and mental health treatment somewhere else…makes no sense, because these are so often co-occurring conditions.” The county will now compete for funding in the second round of Proposition 1, a $4.4 billion statewide behavioral health infrastructure bond passed by voters in March 2024. San Diego County Behavioral Health Services will continue to develop a financial plan, including potential private partnerships, regardless of the grant outcome.
